Photo caption: Actors from Premiere Stages at Kean University and Writers Theatre of New Jersey perform a public staged reading as part of the Healing Voices OnStage: Caregivers Stories program
Morristown, NJ – For the fourth consecutive year, New Jersey Theatre Alliance (“the Alliance”) is inviting professional and family caregivers to submit their personal stories for a theatrical production as part of the Healing Voices OnStage: Caregivers Stories program.
“We have found that this program is a wonderful healing opportunity for individuals to freely express their feelings about their caregiving experience in an artistic manner,” said John McEwen, Executive Director of the Alliance.
Produced in partnership with Writers Theatre of New Jersey (Madison), Premiere Stages at Kean University (Union), The Growing Stage: The Children’s Theatre of New Jersey (Netcong), and George Street Playhouse (New Brunswick), Caregivers Stories will culminate with three professional presentations of selected works woven together as part of the New Jersey Theatre Alliance's Stages Festival, an annual event that offers dozens of free and low-cost theatre events in various venues across the state.
Creative prose, poetry, and theatrical monologues are welcome and should reflect the theme of caregiving or the personal healing experience. All four theatres will conduct workshops to assist those writers selected, in the development of their pieces. The completed monologues will then be read by professional actors on March 26, 27 and April 12 at one of the theatres. For program guidelines and to submit your piece by January 15, 2019, visit: bit.ly/HealingVoices2019 or call the Alliance at 973.731.6582 ext. 14.
The Healing Voices program is made possible through a grant from Mid Atlantic Arts Foundation with support from the National Endowment for the Arts. For information on Mid Atlantic Arts Foundation, please visit www.midatlanticarts.org . Additional support has been provided by Atlantic Health System.
About New Jersey Theatre Alliance
Founded in 1981, New Jersey Theatre Alliance is the first statewide organization for professional, not-for-profit theatre companies in the United States, and is a leader in developing model programs that unite, promote, strengthen, and cultivate professional theatre in New Jersey for its 33 member theatres. The Stages Festival is made possible in part by funding from Bank of America; The Horizon Foundation for New Jersey; the New Jersey State Council on the Arts/Department of State, a Partner Agency of the National Endowment for the Arts; The F.M. Kirby Foundation; the George A. Ohl, Jr. Trust Foundation, and New Jersey Council for the Humanities. Additional support for New Jersey Theatre Alliance is provided by individuals, corporations, and foundations including The Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation and The Shubert Foundation.
About Mid Atlantic Arts Foundation
Mid Atlantic Arts Foundation was established in 1979 to promote and support multi-state arts programming in a region that includes Delaware, the District of Columbia, Maryland, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, the US Virgin Islands, Virginia, and West Virginia. Over the last 35 years, the Foundation has expanded its reach to include national and international initiatives. The Foundation’s work is focused on performing arts touring, jazz, independent film, support for individual artists, and international cultural exchange.
Using Dickens’ own words and those of the tale, McKinley and Buhrer have fashioned a tale for the ages. Chip Prestera and Alan Semok return as Charles Dickens and Ebenezer Scrooge, respectively, in performances so fresh as to make us think this is the first time they’ve played the roles. Prestera’s avuncular Dickens steadily guides the story of the haunted miser along, drawing connections between his work of fiction and his own life—and sometimes inserting himself into the action. Semok’s twisted face (left) conveys the close-minded penury of Scrooge as he grimaces and frowns; he’s so disagreeable that his conversion at the end, when he kicks up his heels with glee at discovering his love of humankind, is all the sweeter. He’s especially nasty as he contemplates “The Jingle of Money” in his strongbox, fingering the coins and letting them drop just to hear the lovely sound. 
The 25-member cast consists of actors of all ages. Christina Eliades (right) is magical as the Ghost of Christmas Past, sprinkling fairy dust and using her lovely voice to lead Scrooge through his sad and difficult past. As the Ghost of Christmas Present, Will Carey is so hearty and bountiful that he shames Scrooge into feeling bad at witnessing the Cratchits’ pitiful holiday feast. And Luke Williams as the Ghost of Christmas Future is scary and imposing—even though he he speaks nary a word.
Joëlle Bochner is a kind, long-suffering Mrs. Dickens; Jody Ebert an appropriately spectral Marley, whose exhortation to Scrooge to change his ways sets the entire haunting into action; Ken Magos a grasping undertaker; Adelaide Prekopa a winsome Belle, Scrooge’s ex-fiancée; Michael Barthel Scrooge’s eternally upbeat nephew Fred; Scott Baird earnest Bob Cratchit (left, with Zoe Davies, Owen Finnerty and Parker Ebert); and Michelle Finnerty his loving spouse. The latter two break hearts singing “If I Could Hold You in My Arms,” lamenting the death of Tiny Tim (played with poise by young Owen Finnerty—a chip off the old block of his talented mother). 
Rounding out the principals are Howard Fischer and Andrea Thibodeau as Mr. and Mrs. Fezziwig (right), the very embodiments of the Christmas Spirit who ebulliently exhort the partygoers to “Dance with Your Dumpling.” Leslie Gayle Williams, Will Carey and Andrea Thibodeau join Magos to salivate over the belongings they’ve pilfered from the departed Scrooge.
Dickens wrote A Christmas Carol more as a ghost story and social criticism than as a holiday entertainment; he meant it to serve as a warning to the citizenry of Industrial Revolution England that they should not forget the poor and downtrodden in their quest for money. This means that there are some scary events and effects that might frighten very young children but would exhilarate those age eight and up who often love to be scared. (Above: Alexia Davies, Michelle Finnerty, Parker Ebert, Owen Finnerty, Zoe Davies and Scott Baird; back: Will Carey and Alan Semok)
For this 30th anniversary production, the Chatham Players haven’t been as niggardly as Scrooge. Artistically and creatively, they present a production as fresh as the first one I saw in 2000. It’s a real theatrical bonbon perfect for the Christmas holidays. So, if you’ve never seen this show—even if you’ve gone numerous times—call the box office for tickets before they’re sold out! (Right) Magos, Williams, Carey and Thibodeau)
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